On Thursday, former President Donald Trump made claims regarding Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, asserting ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. During a luncheon at the White House Rose Garden, Trump stated, “He’s a Muslim Brotherhood guy, 100%. How about having him on the Senate Intelligence Committee? The guy’s 100% Muslim Brotherhood.”
This statement follows scrutiny from Republicans over social media activity from El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, who suggested their mother was involved with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1970s.
El-Sayed has denied these allegations. In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, he dismissed the claims, asserting, “I have no ties; we have no ties.” He went further to say that his political opponents are resorting to anti-Muslim rhetoric instead of focusing on policy issues.
He pointed out that his opponent, Mike Rogers, is merely trying to draw attention to his name and faith, stating, “[Rogers’] only strategy is to point to me and my name and my faith and to say that we’re different, and that you should suspect people simply because they are different than you in how they pray.”
Meanwhile, Abdelhadi’s posts from 2012 interestingly suggest a different narrative. She mentioned a conversation with their mother about her involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 70s, stating, “Had an amazing talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was in college #respect.” Another post from the same year indicated a family connection to the organization, with her commenting on its political navigation, “My family has long been MB, but I’ve always felt that it has navigated the political sphere poorly/destructively.”
Trump concluded his comments by expressing a desire to visit Michigan to highlight what he referred to as “this fraud that’s running.” He reiterated his view of El-Sayed, calling him a “fraud” and a “con man.”
Fox News Digital has sought a response from El-Sayed’s campaign regarding these statements.
